Saturday, January 09, 2010

Tide Tames Timid Tigers

Alabama's tenacious defense early in the game seemed to keep LSU frustrated until there was little more than 10 minutes left and produced points for the entire game. LSU scored only 18 points in the first half and Bama led by as many as 26 in the second. Bama's ball movement was excellent, frequently finding the open shooter both underneath the basket and outside the arc, although not many of those three point shots actually fell through the hoop.

The biggest thing about this game probably is that the Tide wrestled a road win in its first conference game. Not many people counted on that before the season started.

The second biggest thing about this game might be Hillman's behind-the-back, no-look pass when he got doubled up while driving the lane. I don't remember which of his teammates scored the two points, but they were "gimmes" after Senario's superlative pass. Set your DVRs to watch Sports Center because that play has to make their daily hi lites feature.

Defense set the tone. The half court offense was as efficient and effective as it has been in years. The Tide played with energy and enthusiasm for the full forty minutes and was lots of fun to watch. That will not always produce a victory but it certainly was enough today.

Bobby Jack was right, both in his description of the game and in his admonition that all Bama fans should show up and support this team. This is your chance to get on the bandwagon just like the football fans did before Coach Saban's team started competing for (and winning) championships. Vandy has been a thorn in our program's side for about 20 years now. I don't think we've lost to them with me in attendance (including my two trips to Nashville) since the early nineteen seventies. I'm driving up to the game Wednesday from Mobile. I hope to see you all there.

2 comments:

Great win, complete game. We maintained our poise and dominated the game with a business like approach. It's been a LONG time since we've controlled an SEC game on the road like that. This is a good confidence building win. We will need the home court advantage against a pretty good Vandy team who just beat Florida. Glad you are making the trip despite the tipoff. Safe travels. RTR!